Report Comment to a ModeratorOur Moderators review all comments for abusive and offensive language, and ensure comments are from Verified Users only.Please report a comment only if you feel it requires our urgent attention.I understand, report it.Cancel

E3 happens, as it has done for many years, to a scripted schedule. Those in Los Angeles trundle across town from conference to conference, while those abroad play a game almost as tedious as LA traffic, hopping around different streaming sites to see which ones will let them watch the events without pausing for buffering every ten seconds.

Then we declare a winner, and losers - and begin days or weeks of mud-slinging over the merits of our chosen champions, as much defined by tribalism as by the quality of anything on show in many cases. Yet that tribalism, as annoying as it can get, also gives us an interesting yardstick to use to judge the platform holders' E3 conferences.

If each company has a clan hanging off their words and waiting to rush out to wage online flamewar in the wake of their pronouncements, we can start looking at E3 like a political campaign. Who satisfied their supporters, managing to get out the core vote? Who, on the other hand, alienated their base? Did anyone cross over party lines and appeal to traditional supporters of another party? Did it work?

Microsoft's focus this week wasn't on keeping the owners of the first fifty million consoles happy - it was on working out where the next fifty million are going to come from

If we're going to measure by those standards, then Microsoft arguably set itself a pretty tough task. Last year's E3 presentation for the Xbox 360 set out a stall for Kinect, shouting the company's intention to gun for Nintendo's casual and family market to anyone who would listen. This year, they've sold a ton of Kinect hardware and generated a great deal of buzz, and Microsoft may even have started to believe its own line about Kinect delivering many extra years of life to the Xbox 360. Its response - shout harder.

It's not that the company forgot about the core gamer audience - it opened on Modern Warfare 3 and closed on the unveiling of Halo 4 (sadly leaked in advance, which robbed it of much impact), after all. In light of what came in between those events, though, it's hard not to see them as much more than misdirection. This was an E3 conference about all the things Microsoft's core audience doesn't want to hear - embracing casual gaming and making Xbox into more than just a games device.

With well over fifty million of the devices sold, Microsoft's focus this week wasn't on keeping the owners of the first fifty million happy - it was on working out where the next fifty million are going to come from. Online reaction was predictably negative, for the most part. The success of Kinect doesn't sit well with many core gamers, who fear that the platform most of them have chosen this generation, the Xbox 360, is going the way of the Wii - and E3 will have done nothing to allay those fears. In particular, new Fable and Star Wars games focused heavily - perhaps even exclusively - on Kinect controls will fuel (admittedly largely unfair) concerns that core gamers are now being "robbed" of titles and franchises in favour of appealing to a new audience.

Microsoft's decision to pursue the floating vote and arguably underplayed appeal to its core was all the more marked because of the vast difference in approach at Sony's conference. Predictably, contrition over the recent PSN debacle - which will loom large over Sony for months if not years to come - was a cornerstone of the presentation, but it would be interesting to know how much it changed the script for the event overall.

I say that, because this turned out to be one of the most core-friendly Sony events in recent memory. Sony is no stranger to mass market appeal - this is the company that did EyeToy and SingStar before Nintendo ever sold a game console to a retirement home - but this year it barely even gave a nod to the wider audience. Whether appealing to the core audience was the strategy from the outset, or came about as a result of the need to win back consumer opinion in the wake of the PSN hack, it's exactly the strategy Sony pursued - and in the wake of Microsoft's Kinect love-in, it won them significant plaudits from the watching audience.

In a clear shot across the bows of both Nintendo and Apple, Sony is pricing PlayStation Vita extremely competitively

It helps that Sony's sitting on a line-up of seriously good software, and that the new handheld hardware it brought to the show also looks great. PlayStation Move made a few appearances, but probably wisely, Sony mostly presented it as being an optional extra control method for core titles (and got Ken Levine to sell that idea for them), rather than the future of interaction. 3DTV, too, was in evidence, but also muted, with Sony talking in terms of building a market rather than acting like this will be a defining technology for gaming any time in the coming year or three.

Instead, Sony focused on the games - most of them core games. Admittedly, praise for the company's efforts is somewhat curtailed by the fact that while it showed off a lot of solid software, it failed to find a genuinely jaw-dropping blockbuster - a surprise title that would set tongues wagging throughout E3 and help to define the discussion around the show. Uncharted 3 looked absolutely stunning, of course, but the surprise would have been if it was anything other than stunning. (In fact, in software terms, it's the wonderful Tomb Raider demo from Microsoft's conference that seems to have generated most interest.)

Instead, the bombshell from Sony's conference was the final revelation of a price point for the NGP, now sporting the probably-an-acquired-taste moniker PlayStation Vita. In a clear shot across the bows of both Nintendo and Apple, and a welcome repositioning of a firm that's been happy to be seen as very expensive for the past five years, Sony is pricing the device extremely competitively. The WiFi model will ship for the same price as a 3DS and less than a mid-range iPod Touch - far less than many commentators had expected given the hardware's prowess.

If Sony's welcome pricing left a good taste in the mouth after the first day's conferences, though, it was Nintendo's event the next day that commanded most people's attention. The first home console unveiling in over half a decade was always going to be exciting, of course, but had I been laying bets on the word that would best describe Nintendo's Project Cafe reveal, I doubt I'd have put any money on "confusing".

Yet that's exactly what the company's slickly stage-managed but disastrously badly planned and conceived reveal was. From palpable excitement at the first glimpse of the innovative new controller, by the time Iwata and Fils-Aime had finished showing off their new baby, much of the audience was left completely unsure of what they were seeing. Later pronouncements from Nintendo and the launch of embargoed coverage on various websites cleared up the confusion - it's a brand new HD console, not just a new Wii controller - but if it can bewilder core gamers this much with its E3 conference, Nintendo is clearly going to have to think bloody hard about how it's going to get the message about Wii U out to a mainstream audience.

Wii U is, however, an extremely interesting device. The company's demos of how its unique functions can be used in games showed some great ideas, but it'll be up to developers to discover what approaches resonate best with consumers. As a social device and a game platform designed for a busy living room, though, it's unique and potentially very appealing.

If it can bewilder core gamers this much with its E3 conference, Nintendo is clearly going to have to think bloody hard about how it's going to get the message about Wii U out to a mainstream audience

It's what Wii U's presentation says about Nintendo strategically that's most interesting of all, though. For years, the company has been accused - not always entirely fairly - of ignoring its core audience, the same accusation which was levelled at Microsoft for this year's conference. This week, Nintendo's theme was about bridging the divide between its core devotees and the new gamers who had been won over by Wii and DS - and the company did more than just pay lip service to that concept.

The trailer reel for third party support on the Wii U was a powerful statement of intent in itself. It was unmistakably stacked with core, adult gaming titles - to the extent that it was actually quite jarring to see it at a Nintendo event. Headshots in wargames and graphic fountains of blood in action titles are more common fodder for Microsoft and Sony events; in building a reel around game franchises like Ghost Recon, Alien and Ninja Gaiden, Nintendo was pinning its colours to the mast. It wants the core back, and on this showing, it's prepared to make a pretty hefty bid for them.

Supporting the same idea is the company's positioning of the 3DS - arguably a much more pressing concern than Wii U, which remains at least a year away from market. 3DS needs great software urgently, and within minutes of the conference starting, Nintendo had pledged Mario Kart, Starfox, Mario and Kid Icarus games by the end of the year. Along with Ocarina of Time later this month, that'll build out a pretty creditable first-party line-up - and crucially, one filled with franchises Nintendo fans love and core gamers generally appreciate.

Before thinking about winners and losers, then, let's look at who each company chose to speak to. Microsoft, already the darling of the core gamer audience this generation, threw them a sizeable morsel in the form of Halo 4, but lavished attention on the casual market it hopes to conquer in the near future. Sony, reeling from bad publicity, appealed directly to the core market by focusing on its software line-up and delivering a strong message with a competitive PS Vita price point.

As for Nintendo - it set out a plan to be everything to everyone. It wants core gamers back on board. It wants casual gamers to keep believing, and crucially, to keep buying. It wants to deliver big-hitting first party titles but it also wants Wii U and 3DS to be home to seriously successful third-party games. It's almost limitless in its ambition, yet it requires quite a big leap of faith to assume that the firm will be able to keep all of these plates spinning at once. "Ambitious" is the positive interpretation. "Unfocused" is the rather less charitable one.

Who won, and who lost? That depends entirely on what kind of gamer you are - because this year, more than ever, the three platform holders had each decided to play a completely different game to their rivals. Microsoft certainly lost face with the core audience, while Sony regained a little - and Nintendo? Nintendo posed more questions than it asked, and opinions on whether Wii U is inspired or ridiculous are already being strongly defended both within the industry and without. For all that, though - it's clear what's going to be the talk of E3, and of the weeks following. If that kind of mindshare is what "winning E3" means, then Nintendo just walked off with the trophy again.

18 Comments

Iwata once said that when Nintendo reveal new hardware, they don't like to have unanimous praise. They prefer questions to be raised and left unanswered, because that means Nintendo are doing something new and people will want to find out more--as they did with Wii and DS. WiiU seems to have had more of this kind of reaction than the absurdly positive reaction 3DS got last year, which hasn't translated into absurd market success.

Sony's pricing of PS Vita being its strongest point this year is a little telling, for me--for all Sony's first party quality, they still don't have blockbusters that can rival Nintendo or the biggest third party franchises in terms of sales and hype. However, they have given Nintendo something to think about, I think, and I wouldn't be surprised if Nintendo drop 3DS price close to the Vita launch. 3DS has come out of E3 swinging, with a line up of big first party exclusives stretching into the first half of next year, complemented by some quality third party support. As a 3DS owner, it has me reassured and willing to hang onto the device, and I'm quite excited at the upcoming Christmas battle between 3DS and Vita--though now Nintendo are committed to bring both a new Mario platformer and Kart game to 3DS before year's end, I can't help but feel they have the edge.

Microsoft's conference was disappointing because it shows their biggest weakness--lack of exclusive software. They may have Halo 4 coming at the end of next year, but after Gears 3 hits, what exclusive titles do they have? Against the exclusive content Sony brings to bear, Microsoft's offerings look to be spread a little thin. Even the supposedly dead Wii will host exclusive titles like Xenoblade, Kirby Wii, Mario Party 9, Wii Play: Motion, Rhythm Heaven and Zelda: Skyward Sword--if not all by the end of the year, these titles will help keep the system going before WiiU hits.

And I'm also nonplussed as to why the WiiU reveal is being perceived as confusing--Nintendo made it clear in the months leading up to E3 that they were revealing a completely new home system. They said as much before the trailer for WiiU was put on. They also made it clear that it would be backwards compatible with all Wii peripherals. The developer reel talked about the new system--not just a new controller, but a new platform. For me, it was a good reveal, disappointing it didn't do more than show a brief proof of concept, though it's good to know third parties are being aggressively courted by Nintendo. If the head of EA (a company that does much to support every inch of the games market) is behind Nintendo, then the message is clear to third parties who aren't on board yet--you should be here too.

I find the amount of sequels even more staggering than last year. You have to look long an hard to find new IPs. And not even bold sequels or re-imaginings. This is a year filled with games of which you might as well pick up a used copy of the previous version.

The WiiU is disturbing. The controller seems an overpriced gimmick, worse, Sony might just do the same with the Vita. Nintendo might end up in a situation, where people simply upgrade their PS3 and get the same features, but can truly use the "controller" as a full mobile device. The lack of available technical data is also cause for concern. What is the input and video lag if you stream to the controller, will the resolution be enough, what can the WiiU pull off on its own and as a home media device. In creating a more adult device, Nintendo might have dropped the ball on the needs of adults, who may not outgrow games entirely, but still have way more uses for technology than dropping a pad on the floor an flail wildly to play golf.

@Klaus the fact that there's plenty of sequels shouldn't really be a surprise, less companies are taking less risks because of the slow economy. Big franchises are always going to be the number 1 sellers unfortunately. I agree I was hoping to see new IP but came up empty handed..

The Wii U I'm still not sure about, Its a great Idea but having the controller that size is really not great for using to play "hardcore" games which Iwata stated, experienced players will use a mixture of the dual sticks/buttons combination on the side of the controller. I personally couldn't imagine using that controller to play a 30 hour + game that would be annoying!

On a positive note it was interesting to see how this new console was compatible with the likes of the Wii and its peripherals. If it does live up to the promise of seamless transferring of data between the controller to the console there could really be interesting to explore new gameplay Ideas.

Thought Microsoft's gig was solid, not spectacular and that was always going to pale a bit when put next to new hardware. For the most part, they've got the share of the 'core' market they're going to have secured, they'll get that share of the 3rd party core game sales. It's not going to change all that much so trying to expand with Kinnect is what they should be doing. Core gamers aren't going to like it much but we are where we are, and have been for a while.

For me, there was certainly enough games I was interested in (Halo fanboy admittedly) and I was particularly impressed (if not buying) Double Fine's Kinnect game.

On Sony's part, I think they had their best conference in half a decade. For once more or less keeping the chat to a minimum and showing some great games. Born out of necessity perhaps, but executed well none-the-less.

Nintendo just came across to me as confused. The whole thing felt very scattergun. They've spent the best part of the last five years breaking down the barrier manifested by the controller between player and game with enormous success. Having stalled in their attempt to migrate those new consumers upstream, their response is to release a new system with an even more complex controller? It feels a long way from Wii Sports and Wii Fit to me and I'm not convinced many of those players will make the journey.

Overall, I'm definitely looking forward to the WiiU now - I doubt many gamers (hard-core or casual) can ignore the temptation of playing hard-core, console games - while watching TV (or doing something else) at the same time. And finally, can be back to having a single console for both my Nintendo games - and 'other' games (EA - how about a revamped Mass Effect trilogy for the WiiU?).

That said, I had two distinct thoughts this morning about the WiiU:

1/ U = U-Turn. The Wii experiment has failed - the casuals are gone, and they want the hardcore games (and crowd) back. No more standing up, and playing games for hours by using waggle - back to sitting down, and a traditional button based controller.

2/ The WiiU has turned the home console into a uber-powerful DS (two screens, one touch screen, etc).

What I really want to know - does the WiiU support more than 1 (WiiU) controller? Two? Four? (I guess they might still be working this out).

Ironically, we could end up in a situation where Nintendo dominates the console market - and Sony the handheld market (3DS needs some momentum, and quick).

Finally - it said a lot that Ninty didn't show a single Wii title (apart from Zelda - and what was that HD Zelda footage? Could they have a HD Skyward Sword all ready, for the WiiU release?).

The Zelda HD footage is only a demo of what the graphics technology can do, it isn't from a game being developed, according to Nintendo. As for Wii, there are several titles playable on the showfloor that will be out this year--but I do think it's strange Nintendo only had a conference lasting just over an hour, when they could have easily gone for a longer conference given the amount of content they have for their various systems.

And I wouldn't be concerned about 3DS, with Zelda, Starfox, Kid Icarus, Super Mario, and crucially from a sales perspective, Mario Kart all coming before the end of this year, sales should improve. They've also got Paper Mario, Luigi's Mansion 2 and Animal Crossing (another high selling game on handhelds) coming in the first half of next year. Plus there's the third party support. That's not to say Vita won't put up a tough fight, but I don't see it wrestling control of the traditional portable market from Nintendo.

Good work Rob. All three are innovating for sure, but for me the big question is will people be prepared to continue to tolerate multiple devices, high software prices and exclusive content in a world of connected screens? I was most excited by what OnLive are doing (finally) and having a hands on demo by Steve Perlman showed me a glimpse of what is happening NOW and not sometime down the line. All 3 console makers are still using time units from the analogue world. To borrow a phrase from a very good friend of mine, the Internet measures everything in dog years. Wii U is a fascinating concept from a game design POV, but is a year away. Meanwhile the tablets are here, universal controllers and touch screen capability seems to be working now and the true potential of the cloud could change everything, forever. We are in the Screen Age for sure and major players are disrupting the old order. With BT and HTTC as investors, if they get their marketing and messaging right, OnLive could shake things up in 12 months certainly as they launch in the UK in September. These are truly awesome times, and we the consumer has an amazing amount of choice.

I always and thankful that Nintendo are still in the hardware market, they could have gone on the way of past giants like SEGA and Atari, but Nintendo are still holding their market and doing it by doing things differently.

I have full faith with the Wii U being a success, but I do feel that there are going to be allot of dissapointed casual users wondering why they can't use the new Wii U motion tablet with their old Wiis.

The good thing is that they can still use the Wii-motes as well as their old Wii games.

Sadly, I think this will be the end of many Gamecube controllers that were made in the white image of the Wii. But it is fitting that the Gamecube will now be going Retro with grace knowing that Nintendo has survived its darkest period in the market and came out of it in a strong position.

On the topic of the Vita, I think Sony made a great move, for several reasons. The most obvious is the price which, while it is the same price as the 3DS, compares much more favorably to their home console offering than the 3DS does to the Wii. I heard a lot of people turned off to the 3DS because they could get a Wii for considerably less (GameStop has them listed Used at $99.99 right now, a full $100 less than 3DS), but without that being part of the Sony discussion I've heard mostly positive things from people regarding their outlook on the PSV.

I passed on the opportunity to get a PSP, so I'll likely be picking up the PSV, though I am a little worried about compatibility issues with previous titles considering Sony's busted PSPGo experiment and unnecessary removal of backwards compatibility from PS3s. It seems like they are willing to bail on things instead of fixing them. Instead of offering games on memory sticks to people with PSPGos they ignored it and instead of fixing the scaling issues with the backwards compatibility of the PS3 that made PS2 games look awful on it they took it off the system. You could make the same argument for otherOS, but I won't do anything but touch on that can of worms here. This has me mildly worried that they will either bail on bringing older titles to the system or just ignore the ability to do so like they did with the PS3. Which would be a shame, and is a shame for the PS3, considering the stellar library of games that have graced Sony systems. The ability for me, a huge Kingdom Hearts fan, to play the games that came out on the PSP systems is a big selling point and if I can that might change my attitude.

Aside from that the presentation of the system was exactly what they needed to do, especially since E3 is a presentation that only really reaches a core audience. Let's be honest, how many people who aren't core gamers are going to be following news feeds or live streams covering E3? The 3DS showed off a lot of questionably gimmicky features in its pre-launch parading and didn't launch with a decidedly strong lineup. It also played heavily to the cute, cuddly, non-core image that Nintendo has built for itself recently. I'll even go so far as to say the Gamecube launching in a purple case and having a handle on it was a step in that direction. Not that there's anything wrong with that if it's working, which history has shown it has.

The PSP on the other hand showed off a title, in Uncharted, who's source material is highly praise in the industry and considered a measuring stick for other games by a good number of gamers. The demo worked well and showed a responsive and accessible experience. All the tech did what it was supposed to and even better every feature was visible while playing. Unlike the 3DS of the 3DS which can only be seen if you play the system.

Am I the ONLY person NOT "confused" by Nintendo's conference? Duh, they were going against the usual boring stats-heavy tech nonsense and touting the CONTROLLER as the innovation. Basically, they're NOT making a "next-gen" console as much as changing up the game (again).

OK, the Pokemon stuff was "confusing" to me because I'm grown past that long ago. Still, it's something that millions were jumping around about (most of them around twelve years old or less - or parents hooked by their kids)...

ANYWAY ("Bond, now pay attention!"):

The Wii U base unit will run HD visuals you guys "expect" to see already on the PS3 and 360 (thus all those big game announcements - think THREE new cross-platform SKUs: PS3/360/Wii U instead of PS3, 360 and one completely different Wii SKU). The difference is that (hopefully) all of the Wii U titles will utilize the new controller in unique ways. This would be sort of like hoe games support Move or Kinect peripherals with the big difference of how well devs can implement the Wii U controller into the experience on that SKU.

Riccitello made that point in his cameo, by the way and if your brain was racing like mine was, there were at least a hundred new ways to do stuff in games that I can see other developers jumping on. Quick example: Imagine playing Dead Space 2 on the Wii U and having datapad info pop up not on-screen, but on the Wii U tablet, complete with voices coming from the speakers. Imagine picking up that datapad and using it to unlock a new area not in the other versions and extend that game experience further? That's one application where the tablet enhances a game and doesn't feel too gimmicky.

At the end of the day, I'd say we'll see a system that's more the a graphics powerhouse the "core" gamers expect, while it delivers as wide a range of gaming experiences as the different teams who develop on it can cook up.

As far as "social" and other "light" applications? Sure, those can easily be done and I'm sure as more on the system gets out, we'll see that integration fully in the console. However, had Nintendo focused on that during its presentation, they'd have lost some of that "core" to the flames of internet hell as soon as they showed something cute and facebooky dinking away on the tablet. All that says is "Lookit! we can do Blasty Bastids too!" as the shooter crowd groans yet again. Granted, it'll happen... but the flks who want stuff blowin' up real good will be appeased already.

Hope that helps.

Oh, as for using PS3 and 360 movies in the presentation? So what. The point was Wii U can cook up that same eye candy and make it taste the same, NOT some sort of bait and switch and BOOM, you're playing a cartoon Arkham City all of a sudden with a stick figure Batman at 12fps. I suppose they could have waited to show off ACTUAL game footage, but hell, I'm willing to let them slide on this.

I'm more annoyed at those stupid long SWTOR CG movies that look NOTHING like the actual game (or game experience), period. Boo! Great CG (outstanding, at that), though...

I nearly cried when I saw Luigi's Mansion 2 in the pseudo-crossover trailer of Nintendo's mascots. And I had the biggest smile when they announced Smash Bros for WiiU AND 3DS. Great year. Amazing year.

Hmm. I would say they're all winners for different reasons. I think Microsoft is a popular can to kick especially for fanboys and those who hated seeing XBL used to sell videos in the beginning - and hated seeing it become a wild success for MSFT... and those who hated Kinect and said people wouldnt buy it - and hated seeing it sell well.

And so on. Fact is that both Sony and Microsoft want to grow outside of gaming bad. Real bad. If you think Sony doesnt want to own as much power and mindshare as MSFT has right now outside of gaming, in the pay-TV and streaming video arena, you're kidding yourself. The problem is that Sony doesnt have as much to trumpet. Move hasnt been the Kinect killer or bundle mover they wanted it to be worldwide, and Qriocity and other dives into the OTT video water have not generated much particular traction at all. If either of those ventures took off proportionally like they have for Microsoft with Kinect and XBL's video marketplace then Sony's presser you can bet would be far less core gaming focused.

Both companies know that there is a finite number of people who are the core audience and they are saturating. There is no way to keep growing unless you 1. keep delivering value to these core gamers, and 2. deliver value to people outside the core sufficient to get them to buy in. Microsoft is much more successful at doing #2 than Sony is right now. However there's nothing that necessarily says they are going to ignore the core audience.

The problem is that fanboys and also the author of this article somehow thinks that the two propositions are mutually exclusive which is a bit myopic. Years ago Microsoft already had a bigger VOD library than Comcast and no one was complaining they were ignoring core gamers - Most of those complaining now about MSFT's "shift" to entertainment have no clue it's not a shift at all - the company has been doing tons of work in this area over years. The company has grown the non gaming side for years all while apparently taking ok care of core gamers as well, and there's no indication this is somehow now going to stop.

Microsoft has a lot of experience now working with telco IPTV operators with Mediaroom, and has substantial CDN investments, and way more experience working with a broad spectrum of content owners for monetized streaming agreements and so on. Sony is not as tight or as experienced in either working with paid content delivery or content owners not named SPE when it comes to securing rights to content for delivery to their console.

E3 is a limited look during the confines of a press conference. Let's see what actually develops over the course of this year for the core audience before saying MSFT or anyone else has dropped the ball.

I'm most concerned for big N... the Wii U will be a hard proposition in terms of positioning and in terms of getting consumers to fully understand how and why. Especially if Sony pulls of a sufficiently fun 2-screen strategy.

I think all 3 had a great showing. But rather then copy or be looking at what each other is doing, each company focused on its own thing. Microsoft had Kinect and halo 4, Sony had Vita and a slew of exclusive games in development, Nintendo unveiled a new console and made huge announcments for there future plans and an HD Zelda demo. And if your a fan of any of the 3 companies, each had something to be excited about.